Comparing American Grids

The ubiquitous grid can be found across the United States. From small farming towns to mega-cities, from Hawaii to Alaska, the exact same system of right angles is the framework for much of our urbanism.

Paragonah, Utah, and Chicago, Illinois, share the exact same block structure; their grids are almost dimensional duplicates. However, their independent characters, land use intensities, and population densities could not be further apart from each other. While they share the same grid, Paragonah and Chicago have developed in dramatically different ways. This is one of the greatest testaments to the grid plan’s flexibility.

This infographic places 20 American grids in a side-by-side comparison at the same scale of 1″=400′-0″.